Prominent Egyptian opposition figures said today they hold the Egyptian regime responsible for the church attack in Alexandria that left 21 people killed and injured dozens. Commenting on the incident, Mohamed ElBaradei, former International Atomic Energy Agency chief and a potential candidate in the 2011 presidential election, said a regime which is “incapable of protecting its citizens should go.” On Twitter, ElBaradei said, “God Bless the martyrs of the Saints Church. Stop taking the people for granted.” Ghad Party founder Ayman Nour, meanwhile, called for the dismissal of Interior Minister Habib al-Adli, saying he has failed to combat terrorism. On his Twitter account Nour said, “I tell Mubarak that facing up to terrorism starts with addressing its root causes and dismissing those who have failed to combat it like the interior minister.” Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, wondered “Does the death of dozens of Christians not call for the dismissal of (Habib) al-Adli?” Eid added that the regime will use the incident to claim that it is the best to rule the country and that a transfer of power could bring extremists to power. An Egyptian blogger criticized the government, saying they attempted to downplay the incident by stating that Muslims, too, were killed in the bombing along with Copts. “The bombing targeted the church and Copts,” he said, “The fact that Muslims too died by coincidence does not change that.”
